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Monday, July 1, 2013

I'm NOT Waiting For My Copies to Arrive!

Well, maybe I am, but we all have to do things besides wait, wait wait!

Like creating the Devilpede, for example. The banner above is an artist's rendering of an ancient central american centipede monster. It was originally found here:

Photo copyright 2013 John Everett Till

Centipedes are hideous and creepy. And beautiful. They're the lions of the arthropod 'verse. Perfect FATE SF material.

So we present the Devilpede, another FAE creature for the FATE Bestiary.

Lurkers in ducts, ladderworks, and the tight spaces between stacked cargo containers, Devilpedesslither and squirm through narrow, easily forgotten spaces in the depths of ships, stations, and settlements. These two-tailed horrors are all too often discovered just moments too late, in the brief seconds before a skeleton crew, recon, or rescue party succumbs to their wholesale predation.

It is unknown how Devilpedes get on ships, although their below-deck lairs are often scattered with broken shards of neo-ceramic material. Are their larvae carried aboard ships and habitats by humans? If so, why?

Most vessels and installations within the Empire have standing orders to kill these creatures on-sight. Some have displayed an uncanny intelligence in evading their hunters, and it is suspected they are distant relatives of the Trelebs, who hate them as much as humans do.

Turn on the lights in a cargo bay or disused section below decks and you may find one just sitting there waiting for you to come along. They are well-armored and move very quickly. And once they are of human size or greater, these creatures rarely turn and run. Instead, they will charge right towards you.

Even worse, Devilpedes are mildly telepathic, and are able to play-on and amplify common human fears of the darkness and of slithery multi-legged creatures. The closest Devilpede may be the one right behind you.

OGL MECHANICS

DevilpedeTwo-tailed giant centipede (inimical)ASPECTS:

High Concept:Armored lurkers with a hundred legs

Trouble: They freeze for a second when the lights come on

Aspect: Two tails and twice the trouble

Aspect: Did you see that thing move?

Aspect: Play on your fears

APPROACHES

Careful: +2

Clever: +2

Flashy: 0

Forceful: +4

Quick: +3

Sneaky: +3

STUNTS:

Amplify Fears - Take a +2 to Sneaky Approach to attempt to harm an adversary or prey by preying on their fears.

Split in Two - Once per session, a Devilpede may split itself into two of its kind.

Quick Getaway - Take a +2 to Quick Approach to make a quick getaway from an adversary.

About Me

Last and First Men

"In your day you have learnt to calculate something of the magnitudes of space and time. But to grasp my theme in its true proportions, it is necessary to do more than calculate. It is necessary to brood upon these magnitudes, to draw out the mind toward them, to feel the littleness of your here and now, and of the moment of civilization you call history." - Olaf Stapledon